Motor-plow.



W'. N. ROBISON.

MOTOR PLOW.

:.PPLIGA'TION FILED 11017.19, 1910.

Patented `July 22, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I fr n W. N. ROBISGN-l MOTOR PLOW. APPLIGATION FILBI),NOV. 19z 191()Vmerma July 22, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

n rfi ernten.

WILLIAM N. ROBISON, 0F CAYON, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO BEN Y.

' CHAMIBLESS, OF CANYON, 4TEXAS. I

' MOTOR-PLOW.

Specification of Letters Patent.

a Patentes .nay se, raie.

Application led November 1.9, 1910. Serial No. 593,172.

Plows, of which the following is a specifica tion. j l

This invention relates to gang plows of that kind which areI driven orpropelled 'by mechanical. power, such as a gasolene engine or aninternal combustion engine of any suitable type, or by any other vwellknown l form of motor.

One object of the invention is to provide a simple and effectivesteeringjdevi'ce consisting of a shoe adapted to travel in the furrownearest'the land, said shoe beingl adapted to follow the furrow and theturns thereof, and the said shoe being further adapted at each turn ofthe furrow to swing in a horizontal plane, thus transmitting motion toand aotuating a clutch mechanism, whereby the traction wheel of thedevice distant from the furrow will be thrownout of gear so as toconstitute a pivot upon which the entire machine will turn until thesteering shoe again assumes a position in longitudinal alinement withthe machine, thus resetting the v'clutch 2nd causing themaohine toproceed as beore.

.A further Object ef the inventan is a provide a .steerin shoe4 ofsimple and improved construction, whereby the object above set forth maybe eectively attained.

Still further objects of the invention are to simplify and'fimprove thegeneral construction and operation of a niachineof the characterloutlined above.

With these and other ends in view which will readily appear as thenature of the in# v'vention is better understood, the same con-v sistsin the improved construction and novel i arrangement and combination ofparts lili which will be hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claims.-

Inthe accompanying drawings has been illustrated` a simple and preferredform of the invention, it being. however, understood that no limitationis necessarily made to the.l

precise structural details therein exhibited,

but that changes, Valterations and modifications within the scope of theclaimsniay be resorted to when desired. j

vIn the drawings, Figure 1 1s a top plan view of a traction gang plowconstructed in accordance with the invention. "Fig 2 is a longitudinalsectional elevation on theline 2 2 in Fig. 1.v Fig. 3 is a detail planview of the clutch operating mechanism. Fig. i

is. a perspective detail view of the steering shoe. Fig. 5 is a sideelevation illustrating a modified form of the steering shoe. Fig. 6 1stop plan view of the modilied form of .the steeringsh'oe, the shaftcarrying said shoe being shown in section.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by likecharacters of reference.

The frame A of the improved. plow is mounted on an axle 1 upon which thetransporting wheels`.2, 3 are mounted for rotation. Both wheels aretraction wheels, and bot-h are intended to travel upon the unplowedland, the wheel 3 traveling adjacent to the furrow turned by thepreceding round, and said wheel may, therefore.I be designated as j thefurrow wheel, while the wheel 2 may properly be designated as the landwheel. Suitably connected with the wheels 2 and 3 adjacent to the innerfaces of said wheels are gear wheels 4 and meshing with spur wheels (iand 7 upon a line shaft B which is supported upon uprights or brackets Srising from the side members of the frame, said line shaftbeing inparallel relation to the axle 1. The line shaft B is ma de up of twoparts or sections 9 and 10, the latter having a socket 11 toreceive aspindle l2 projecting eol from the end ef the shaft section 9, saidshaft sections being thus capable of rotation independently of oneanother.

The shaft section 9 which carries the gear wheel 6- meshing with thespur wheel 4 upon the .land wheel 2 also carries a friction clutch'device 'including a slidable spring pressed lcollar 18, links 16 havingturn buckles 17, andfric'tion shoes 15 engaging the friction '-A-frini20' of a wheel .21 which is firmly keyed ands'ecured upon 'the shaftsection 10, said wheel -21 being .also equipped with an inter-Anal-bevel gear 22 meshing with a pinion 23 upon the driven shaft 24 .ofa motor M which is suitably supported upon the bed or platj form of themachine.

The slidable collar 18 has an annular groove 25 engaged by the fork of ashippin -lever 26 which may be thrown by means o a seconda lever. 27 forthe purpose of moving'the co lar 18 against the tension of the spring19in order lto disengage the friction shoes l5 from the rim 20. Theauxiliary lever 27 Aoperates against the tension of a spring 2 8 whichassists in restorinod said lever 27 to its initial position after eingdisplaced. The lever 27 is connected by means of a rigid link or rod 29with an arm 30 extending 'from a vertical shaft 31 which is' supported,in suitable bearings such as brackets 32, 33 connected with the frameof the machine. The upper extremity of the shaft 3l carriesa hand lever34 which may be readily remov-d when desired, as indicated in Fig. 3.Upon the shaft 31l is coiled a spring 35, one end of the springbeingconnected with' said shaft, and the other end being connected withthe bracket 32, the tensioncf the spring being exerted to throw saidshaft in the direction of the arrows in Figs. 1 and 3.

i The shaft 31 carries at its lower end a steering shoe 3G 'which maybedescribedas consisting of an arm extending rearwardly from the shaft andhaving an enlarged portion or head 37 provided with a transverse slot-38 which is connected by an aperture 39 with the underside of the shoe,which is provided with a groove or channel 40 extending rearwardly fromsaid aperture. A guiding spring 41, which is partly accommodated in thegroove 40 and from which it extends rearwardly, as shown in Fig. 4, isprovided at its forward end with an upturned arm 42 extending throughthe aperture 39 and secured by a nut 43 within the recess 3S. The spring41 may be described as a guide spring which by direct contact with' thesoil serves to maintain the steering shoe 36 against accidentaldisplacement, saidj guiding spring serving also to some extent .toprotect the steering shoe from wear, said spring being easily andinexpensivelyvrenewed when worn.,

In orderv to enable the steering shoe36 to v be 'raised from contactwith the; ground when desired, it is preferred to mount upon the frameof the machineva hand lever 31, one end' of which is `connected by alink 32 with a collar 33 loosely fitted v.upon the shaft 31 beneath thespring` 35 which, as previously tak/ted.l is 'firmly\connected with saidshaft. tf will b e seen that by depressing the handle end-of the lever3l the shaft 31 carrying the steering shoe may beraised or4elevatedagainst the tension of the spring Means may be provided forsecuring the hand levcr31 in adjusted position when the steering shoe israised or elevated, but such means being common and well known,

" it has not been considered necessary to particularly illustrate thesame.

The plow frame includes rearwardly eX- -tending ar s 44 and 45 ofunequal length,

said arms )eing provided with castings affording guides 46 and 47 forthe plow carryinar frame Fy which is vertically movable in said guides.The frame F' is provided' with vertically disposed rack bars '50, saidrack bars meshing with pinions 51 upon a shaft 52 which is supported forrotation in bearings upon the' castings which include the guide members4G, 47. The shaft also carries a worm wheel connected with a worm 54upon a vertically disposed shaft' ings, the operation and. advantages ofthis f.

invention will be readily understood by those skilled linthe art towhich it appertrains. In laying off the land or plowing the first furrow(or series of furrows, according to the number of plows employed) themachine may be guided by the handle 34:, the steering shoe being held incontact with the soil by the spring 35 which exerts a downward as wellas a torsional tension, A

and the handle 34 being held by the operator to maintain the ,steeringshoe in the proper position to guide the-plow. When a corner is to beturned, it is obvious that the handle is manipulated to turn the shoe soas to guide the machine in the proper direction. After thel land hasbeen laid out, that is4 to say, after the rst round has been plowed,said steerin/g shoe is permitted to drop into the last lfurrow where itwillV be held in. engagement with the side wall of suchfurrow by thetorsional tension of the spring 35 and in engagement with the bottom ofsaid furrow bythe downward tension of said spring. The handle 34 may nowbe removed from the shaft 31 and the machine -is permitted -toproceed.The

steering shoe will follow the furrow andv will thus be automaticallyadjusted to guide the machine as it progresses. When the steering shaft31. is oscillated, motion will be transmitted through the arm 30 and rod29 to the lever 27l and the shipping lever 26, the latter'serving tothrow the friction shoes 15 out ofengagement with the fric tion rim 20.Motion will thus be transmitted from the motor to the shaft section 10only, the shaft section 9 and the traction wheel 2 driven' from said`shaft sectionl remaining temporarily idle', so that said tractionwheelwill constitute a pivot upon which' the machine will turn, the tractionwheel 3being-continuouslydriven from the shaft section 10..to whichmotion is funin terruptedly transmitted from the machine.

As soon as the turn been completed and the steering shoe assumes itsnormal lon tudinal position, the springs` 19 and 28 will serve torestore the parts including the fric tion mechanism to normal or activeposition. The plows maybe vertically adjusted to plow deep or. shallow,as may be desired, and they may be elevated above the ground fortransportation when desired.

' In Figs. 5 and 6 there has been shown a 'slightly modified form ofsteering shoe. Said shoe, which is here designated S, is carried by theshaft 31, and said shoe is of approximately triangular shape, the base90 of the triangle being of a widthY equal to the width of the furrowwhich is to be. engaged by the shoe. 'Ihe shoe is equipped with a guidespring 41 which isin all respects similar to the guide spring 41hereinbefore described.' It will be observed that when the point of theshoe strikes the side wall of the furrow, the point only will bedisplaced laterally and will follow the side wall of 'the furrow, .beingthereby guided while the basev of the vshoe is pre vented from lateraldisplacement, owing to `its 'width which equals the width off-thefurrow. 1

The n iodified form of the steering shoe shown in Figs. 5 and 6 willusually be found preferable, but no limit-ation is made to theparticular form or shape of said shoe.

Having thus described the invention, what `isclaimedas new, is

-1. In a motor driven plow, a 'vertical steering shaft, a springconnected with said shaftto rock it about its axis and to force `itin 1adownward direction, a furrow engaging steeringvshoe upon the shaft,and.-

a ground engaging guide spring connected with the steering shoe.

2. In adevice of the character described,

a shaft supported for oscillation and for vertical Vmovement, a torsionspring'oon-- nected with the shaft to force itin a downward .direction,and to turn it about its axis and a furrow engaging steering shoe uponthe shaft.

3. In a v`device of the character described, a frame, motor driventraction wheels supporting said frame, a steering device including anapproximately vertical shaft su-pone of the traction wheels when theshaft is oscillated against the tension of the spring.

4. In a moto-r driven plow, a vertical steering shaft', a springconnected with said shaft to roclr it about its axis and to .force itinf afdownward direction, and a furrow engaging steering shoe upon theshaft, said shoe being of approximately ltriangular shape with arearwardly extending base which is of awidth approximately equal to thewidth of the furrow.

ture in presence oftwo witnesses. I' WILLIAM N. RUBI-SON.

Witnesseezf 'J S'rnPHENsoN,

GEO. A. BRANDON.

Washington, D. C.

-'1o In testimony whereof I aiiix my signa- -Qopesiof this patent may beobtained for five cents each, by addressing the. Commissioner of Patente

